Milestones - Becoming Mature

            Certain events, even those that are forced, can mark the beginning of maturity. “The Cage,” written by Ruth Minsky Sender, is a true story based on the reflection of how drastically a young Jewish girl’s life was altered during World War II.  Through maintaining a job, becoming the legal guardian of her brothers, and bringing spirit to depressed women in the war, Reva Minsky develops and grows as a person, and a young lady.

While stuck in the Lodz Ghetto, shrouded in despair and desperation, Reva took on the responsibility of caring for her three younger brothers, one of which had accumulated tuberculosis. She adopted an extremely maternal role and worked 15 hours a day to be able to afford the largest amount of food she could possibly get. Knowing that her family was struggling to survive under the unjust conditions, she swallowed back any pain she felt from work and put on a tough face for the sake of her brothers. She had been left with no choice but to be courageous and move on with life even though the children’s only parental figure, their mother, had been sent to a concentration camp.

           Once the police in the ghetto had learned that the four children were living on their own, they put all of the children up for adoption. Having turned 16, days before any actual adoption could take place, Reva fought for the right to adopt her brothers and be their legal guardian. Meant to keep the children together, Reva’s handling of the situation had proven that she was mature enough to care for her brothers, as she had before.

            After being separated from her brothers and sent to a concentration camp, Reva, still a teenager, brought light to the otherwise depressing lives that had been forced upon the prisoners. She secretly wrote and read her beautiful, original works of poetry that instilled hope and joy in the others. Many of the women, left with shredded faith, were inspired by Reva and her creativity. It would have been undeniably easy to be caught up in the oppressing setting that was forced upon her, but through working for her family, caring for her younger brothers and being a leader for women in the concentration camps, Reva became a mature young lady.